There’s No Crying in Quidditch
by justalittleconfusing
Summary: After a failed coup during the Battle of Hogwarts the Order is out of money and backed into a corner. Facing a war ravaged public they need hope, a voice, a Quidditch star.
1. chapter 1

Dead autumn leaves crinkled as an army of feet sprinted across an old dirt path. Light broke through bare spaces of the forest's threading canopy. The air burned as it heaved into rapidly breathing lungs.

A group of thirteen women sprinted onward up a steep embankment. Giant boulders split the narrow makeshift path forcing the women to fall into a single file line. One lone red haired woman broke along the right side of the path through the boulders ahead of the pack. The line of women chased her like wolves chasing their alpha after a fresh kill.

The sun fell behind darkening clouds as afternoon transitioned into dusk.

"We need to turn back," yelled the leader of the single file line.

The women behind her stopped running. The front woman turned back to face the group. Deep shuddering gasps replaced the rhythmic breathing of bodies in perpetual motion. The women took deep swigs of water from matching emerald canteens swinging from their waists.

"It's almost dark," a bulky blonde stated.

"You go ahead. I am finishing the run." The red head shook her long plait back over her shoulder. Light illuminated streaks of copper and gold in her hair as the sun came out from behind the clouds. The sun gave one last push of daylight before waning behind the clouds again.

"If you get hurt we aren't looking for you. You know how rocky the path gets up ahead and we are losing daylight."

"She is going to get fined again." a voice interjected from the back.

"Leave her, it's her funeral when Gwenog gets a hold of her."

The twelve women turned away from the redhead. Frustration crackled in the air. They ran in double formation down the embankment. Arms swung in a synchronized motion hanging low by their hips. The women steadied themselves against the gravitational pull of the decline. The redhead ran away from the distant sound of feet hitting the path.

Light continued to fade. The path blended into the darkness. Rocks and roots twisted their way into the footholds as the redhead pushed forward faster. Once or twice she had to steady herself against the roughening terrain.

Oxygen burned deep into her lungs. Her breath became ragged as she pushed harder, faster, deeper up the side of the embankment. Snot drizzled down her nose as she wiped her face with the inside of her emerald shirt.

Seconds, minutes, hours passed but she kept trudging up the hill. Long past a green flag staked into the ground. Through a crashing river cutting off the path and the thickening underbrush of unruly roots. She ran on. Systematically and with force she plunged deeper into the darkening night.

"GINNY WEASLEY TURN AROUND." A megaphoned voice thundered off in the distance and crackled through the still air. The redhead stopped running. Panting she pulled her canteen off her hip and took a deep drink between jagged breath.

"MANDATORY HARPIES MEETING NOW." The voice was small, far off in a distance. Ginny looked over her shoulder behind her. Her team must have arrived back without her. She fingered her wand in her right hand holster. It lay dormant next to her canteen. Darkness engulfed her as the sun finally set beneath the trees. The racing river was deafening. Decomposing leaves crunched in the overgrown brush as a chill swept across Ginny's skin playing with her already taught nerves.

Destination. Harpy's Pitch. Determination. Go to face Gwenog's wrath. Deliberation. Ginny sighed. There was nothing deliberate left in her. She was tired. Tired of the meaninglessness of this all. Guilt washed over her as her stomach twisted and churned. She knew she should be grateful. She was in Scotland away from the chaos and fighting. She was living her dream and bringing hope to thousands of people. She had a platform that needed supporting and a large celebrity voice to speak out for the oppressed. She should be filled with gratitude for the safety and ease of her life right now.

With a flick of her right wrist she spun into her apparition and with a crack landed in the middle of an empty pitch. The full moon shone brightly next to the illuminated stadium lights. A wolf howled in the distance of the forest surrounding the stadium. Shivers traveled down Ginny's spine as goosebumps burst onto her arms.

"Thank you for finally joining the rest of us." Gwenog's voice broke the silence of the pitch. "Since you don't seem to respond to fiduciary reprimands I am going to have to treat you like a child and punish you the good old fashion way." Gwenog waited. When Ginny failed to answer she continued on.

"You know in this political climate you are not allowed to separate yourself from the rest of the team. You are to remain with the others at all times. Just because you lead the league in scoring doesn't mean you have permission to do whatever the hell you want."

The silence from Ginny sparked between them. Gwenog sighed and walked over to her star player.

"I know you are frustrated. I know this war is going on far longer than any of us would like. But you really are doing good here. Run 20 laps around the pitch. You are fined two thousand galleons to the Harpy's War Orphan's Fund."

Ginny wordlessly threw down her canteen and headed to the edge of the of the pitch. Her slow trot transitioned into a full out gallop as she sprinted around the edge of the grass. The muscles in her tired legs burned as she pushed through the pain. A blister formed on her right heal from the friction between her trainer and foot. But she kept running. She could feel Gwenog's eyes boring into her skin. The pressure of being watched pushed her harder and faster around the circumfrance of the field.

Sighing Gwenog walked off the pitch into the team locker room. Nothing had been the same for Ginny since his funeral. Nothing was the same with him gone.


	2. Chapter 2

Steam rose in the small bathroom fogging the mirror. Streaks of condensation dripped down the crack of aging lime green tile lining the bathroom. Hot water pounded on Ginny's head and down her aching shoulders. After tonight's practice, she struggled to lift her arms over her head. This was her own fault, she was the one who kept pushing herself harder than the rest of the team. She breathed the aromatherapy of her lavender shampoo willing the soothing scent to somehow reach her aching bones.

Dressing in a hurry in her small studio flat she rushed to her floo to head to the fidelius charmed Burrow. Late, as usual, she threw the green powder into the fire and stepped into the emerald flames. She hated taking the floo. Somehow the smoke was always the color of his eyes.

An explosion of noise slammed into her as she stepped out of the fireplace. Walking into the chaos of a dozen people chatting in the small cramped living room she sat on the floor next to her Mum's rocking chair. Her Mum glared down at her briefly before refocusing her attention at the meeting at hand. At this point, she was use to Ginny walking in late.

Kingsley ran the meeting tonight. The Order reestablished itself at the Burrow after the disastrous Battle of Hogwarts. The battle descended into pure chaos with no clear winner after Harry vanished from the fighting. He was last seen by Neville walking into the forbidden forest.

There were heavy casualties on both sides. Dozens of under-aged children were slaughtered. Ginny's friends' blood ran crimson through her fingers as she helped to move bodies during the aftermath of the fighting. The cost of membership to Dumbledore's Army was so much higher than any of them realized. Outrage sparked over the Order allowing school children to fight. Magical Britain turned against the Order. People were listening to Death Eater propaganda distributed through the Daily Prophet. The International Community levied heavy sanctions against Magical Britain. Shortly thereafter multiple countries withdrew financial support for resistance fighting. Gringotts stopped lending to the debt-ridden Order leaving them with negative cash flow.

Anyone who worked for the Ministry and fought on their side was fired from their posts. There were rumors of them being wanted for treason but so far no arrests were made. Percy, moving back into the Burrow, began publishing anti-government leaflets with the Lovegoods. George also moved back home after he had the majority of his assets seized by the Ministry. Without startup capital, he struggled to reestablish his business. Fleur and Bill, after realizing they were pregnant, moved to France. They remained in the Order and worked to reestablish international lending to the Order.

The students who survived the battle got off easy compared with the adults. Considering their expulsion from further magical education and the ability to sit for their N.E.W.T.S. they all got along rather well. Neville received a rather robust inheritance and joined the Order as Kingsley's right-hand man. Luna was reunited with her father. Together they restarted the Quibbler. Ginny, drafted early into the Harpies starting squad, received a nice signing bonus which she turned over to the Order. Gwenog Jones had been secretly funneling money to the Order for years. She always wanted to recruit Ginny after school but sped up her plans once Hogwarts closed for good. Ginny initially refused her offer, wanting to go straight ahead and join the Order to keep fighting, but Molly convinced her that the Order needed key people in high profile positions to generate income and regain the public's trust.

The Hogwarts professors were all publically dismissed from their posts and Hogwarts was shut down. The new magical school, located in the Ministry, technically was run by Professor Slughorn. But the curriculum was determined by the Carrow twins and admission was only offered to purebloods. McGonagall, Flitwick, and Sprout ran a small underground unaccredited school. They struggled to rely solely on the Order's dwindling resources.

"Ginny. Did you hear me?" Kingsley's voice boomed. The rest of the room looked directly at her. She had gotten lost in her thoughts again.

"Um."

"We need you, Gwenog, and Oliver to infiltrate the Ministry. There is a ball next week when they announce the players for England at the World Cup. They announced this morning it would be held in the Ministry's atrium. We need you to destroy Ron and Hermione's files in the record room."

"Have we heard word from either of them?" Ginny's voice was filled with hope. It had been months since they last made contact.

"Yes, which is why we need to make it harder for the Ministry to track them. There is a magical component to their files in the Auror office that can be self-destructed when activated. Gwenog will teach you the spell."

"Kingsley, No, this is much too dangerous." Molly stood up from the rocking chair. Her arms crossed over her chest and her shaw fell to the floor. "We can't send her into dragon's lair."

"Mum, it's okay," Ginny reached up and took Molly's hand into her own. "I will be safe."

The room went quiet. Molly glared at Kingsley before glancing at the family clock. Her face paled as Ginny's hand move from home to mortal danger. Ginny looked around at all the stony faces. Minerva stood to face Kingsley and asked, "what about Harry's file?"

Ginny's blood ran cold as she heard his name. Her stomach dropped and her mouth went dry. Her heart spasmed as all the air left the room.

Harry. They usually never spoke his name aloud.

Muffled noise continued on around her. Everyone debated the worth of destroying his file. The long-running fissure between Order members deepened as they debated if he was dead and if it was worth the risk. Ginny glanced out the window towards the spot where they held a makeshift funeral. Where they placed a temporary headstone next to Fred's permanent one. Ginny held out hope that he could be alive but she didn't dare voice that to anyone else. He survived so much in his young life, the killing curse as a baby, Voldemort in the graveyard, and he came back to life again and again. How could he be gone?

"I am going to destroy all three files." She hadn't realized she had stood. She hadn't even realized she started talking again. "If it helps them it helps us all. Plus, we don't know if they know he is missing. Destroying two files will look suspicious."

"She is right Molly," Arthur quietly interjected. He rarely spoke these days, not since Fred's death. But now he walked over to where Molly was standing, shaking with anger, and placed a calming hand on her arm.

"All right." Kingsley continued, "You destroy all three files. Gwenog and Oliver will serve as your lookouts. You will find the records on level three in the Auror section of the records room. We have an Auror on the inside who is going to make contact with you tomorrow and escort you to the ball. You two will publically start dating as an alibi for why you will sneak away from the festivities."

"And can this agent be trusted?" Molly interjected.

"With our lives," Kingsley replied.

"Fine enough for me," said Ginny heading towards the fireplace. Her head was pounding and the weight of the day pulled her down. "I need to head back or I will miss curfew. Gwenog may have let me come tonight but she won't like me missing curfew before a game."

Ginny threw the powder into the flames and closed her eyes. She couldn't take any more reminders tonight.

"Ginny, your after operative makes contact Fleur will send over a dress." Molly yelled through the flames.

Ginny didn't respond. She turned around locking the floo behind her. Heading over to the pullout couch she threw the cushions onto the floor and made her bed. She didn't bother to fix the covers and let her exhaustion pull her into a deep sleep. Her dreams took her back to warm spring days on the side of the lake at Hogwarts. Long endless days between the two of them. Where his fingers would travel across her skin electrifying every freckle they touched. Of soft lingering kisses.

A sudden warmth spread over her skin and pressure descended. She woke and looked around the empty studio. She must be going crazy. She was alone. She sat up in the dark room swearing she could faintly smell broom polish, warm grass, and something distinctly Harry. But that couldn't be right. No one, not even Ron or Hermione, had heard from him since the Battle. He was gone.


	3. Chapter 3

The sky was full of ominous storming clouds. Ginny flew lazy circles around the stadium warming up before the team conditioning. A cold breeze of moisture blast through the stadiums cutting through Ginny's practice kit. Thunder crashed softly as Ginny could make out a hazy sheet of rain forming in the distance.

An athletic woman with muscular arms flew up to Ginny. She was a bit taller than Ginny and her long black hair was plaited to the waistband of her practice kit. She had deep-set striking blue eyes that were angrily glaring at Ginny. She carried herself with a certain level of primness even in the gritty world of Quidditch.

"Yes, Rosalyn?" Ginny jeered.

"Gwenog wants you down at the pitch for a team warm up. Stop wasting time up here. Ginevra." Roz sped her broom away until she landed next to a petite pixie cut brunette. They separated themselves from the rest of the group whispering together.

Ginny sighed heavily and chased after Roz. She knew better than to push Gwenog at the start of practice.

"Alright, ladies I am going to pair you up for fundamental circuit training. You can thank me later. Roz, you are paired with Serenity. After you finish your circuit I want you to run her through throwing plays. Bronte, you are paired with Eliza. I am going to have Ginny work out her offensive throwing arm by having to go two on one." Gwenog looked at her clipboard before continuing. "Rest of you pair up by position."

Gwenog blew her whistle and scattered across the field in groups of two and three. Ginny was grateful to be paired with the two keepers. To say she did not get along with her fellow lead chaser, Roz "sacred 28" Travers was an understatement. Roz was a distant relative to the infamous Death Eater who helped kill the McKinnons in the first wizarding war. Roz claimed to be open-minded to muggleborns and halfbloods but Ginny had her doubts. Politically Roz was very active in supporting pro-Ministry reform. She was the lead fundraiser for David Goyle's, Gregory Goyle's Uncle, failed Minister for Magic campaign.

Eliza and Bronte flew into position in front of the keeper hoops. They each went to guard two and a half hoops giving Ginny full coverage. Ginny smiled. This is exactly the type of playing scenario she loved. She flew hard to the right as Bronte, the reserve chaser pivoted into coverage position. Ginny quickly saw an opening and leaned her body as far left as possible when she twisted on her broom to throw off-center into the left opening. It was a difficult move that caused her to lose balance. Ginny dipped into a barrel roll to recover.

The whistle blew as Ginny flew back to the half field. Gwenog had flown up and was giving Bronte additional pointers when the whistle blew again telling Ginny to start.

Coverage was now three keepers to three hoops. Ginny swerved as Roz came and flew beside her. Ginny nodded and watched Roz drop down. She dropped the Quaffle into Roz's open coverage and got in position to the right bottom of Bronte's broom. Roz shot up distracting the three keepers and dropped the quaffle behind the Gwenog into Ginny's waiting hands. Ginny ascended quickly behind their backs and easily threw the Quaffle into the hoop behind Gwenog.

"See girls! That's what I call teamwork!" Gwenog hooted. "Very nice ladies."

Gwenog flew back down as Roz rammed her broom against the back of Ginny's. Ginny lost balance and rolled to stay on the broom. Ginny wished she had her wand suppressing the urge to bat boogie the smug smile off Roz's face.

Eliza flew beside Ginny. "You okay Gin?"

"Yes," Ginny tossed the quaffle up catching it with one hand. Eliza Abbott was one of Hannah's older cousins. It was easy to see the family resemblance with her blonde ponytail and curvier figure. She was in Tonk's year and played keeper for Hufflepuff against Charlie. A good friend of Tonk's, she first meet Ginny at the funeral when Ginny looked after baby Teddy. They became close after Ginny joined the team. While she had no interest in joining the Order, she was close to professor Sprout. She contributed a great deal of time and money to the students shunned by Ministry schools.

"Ignore her."

"I know. It would be so much easier if I could trust her off the pitch." Ginny tossed the quaffle up, barrel rolled, and then caught it upside down as she rolled back to an upright position. "I am telling you one quick hex and I could have her off my back for a month."

"Ginny, Eliza," Bronte flew over to join their discussion, "Gwenog is looking. We better get back to the hoops."

The team practiced for another two hours. Ginny's hands burned from the cold as the wind picked up and ripped against her exposed skin. The rain from the distance blew over the stadium soaking the team. Visibility decreased. Ginny struggled to balance the Quaffle and stay on her slippery broom. Gwenog's whistle blew as she held her wand up to her throat to project her voice through the noise of the storm.

"Ladies, the storm is finally rolling in. We are going to go over the playbook after lunch. You have 30 minutes to eat and meet me in the locker room."

Ginny was one of the last players to fly down. Bronte and Eliza were walking into the canteen reviewing keeper position plays when Ginny brought her broom back to the stands. She stood for a long time inspecting the straw. Finally satisfied that Roz's bump had done no damage, she made her way over to lunch.

Inside a single story building without windows held their locker rooms, trainer offices, and canteen. A blast of comforting hot air enveloped Ginny as the doors opened. The door's cleaning charm dried her clothes and got the mud off her shoes. She walked along the green and gold laminate squares on the floor to a wide room with dark cherry wood tables, white table clothes, and high back chairs. Harpy's paraphernalia from over the years covered the walls. Old pennants, press clippings, trophies, and awards took the place of windows.

Ginny got in line behind Roz and Charlotte. They huddled together whispering again. Roz looked around after a few moments and saw Ginny staring at her with an annoyed expression on her face. Roz glared as Ginny gave a condescending smirk. Roz huffed.

"As I was saying, I am looking forward to the upcoming election cycle. The Ministry will make a lot of headway under Delores Umbridge's new leadership campaign. She believes in strong school reform and banishing all unaccredited teachers."

Ginny's blood boiled inside her as she saw red behind her eyes. Her insides churned like she was about to be sick.

"Excuse me Charlotte, did you say Delores Umbridge is the new Pro-Ministry candidate?"

"What's it to you? We all know how you lean." Charlotte turned her back to Ginny and rolled her eyes at Roz.

"No, I am sorry, I didn't think I heard you ." Ginny was now on the verge of yelling. Her left hand reached to her side looking for her wand. A calming hand reached for her arm. It was Eliza. She held Ginny's arm back. Ginny's anger welt up even higher. She pictured Delores Umbridge's smary pig face.

"Excuse me ladies, but I lost my appetite."

Ginny stalked out of the lunchroom and slammed the door behind her. The heater, no longer comforting, made it hard to breathe. A blush of anger spread across her face as she made her way out to the pitch. Rain poured outside, but Ginny didn't care. It was one thing for her fellow teammates to support David Goyle and his loose death eater connections. She could try to understand. Look at how different Andromeda Tonks turned out from her sisters. Many of them were drafted from different countries or were well out of school when the fighting occurred. The Roz's and Charlotte's of the world were isolated in their pureblood bubbles with nothing to fear. And all they cared about was maintaining pureblood rights. Things like estate taxes and transference of wealth to the next generation. All they knew was what they read in the Daily Prophet. The Daily Prophet, run by Rita Skeeter, played up the Order's use of children in fighting. It instilled fear of the Order's socialist agenda. If they came to power they would heavily tax pureblood families to establish a fair and equitable society.

So in a fiduciary way, Ginny learned to understand why Goyle would appeal as a candidate. But Delores Umbridge. The rain poured on Ginny's head. Soaked to the bone she grabbed a random broom from the ground. Delores Umbridge was different. This was personal. This was a woman who tortured children for fun. A woman with an insatiable thirst for power.

Ginny shook her head and pushed her broom higher. Faster. Lightning crashed outside the stadium. She knew conditions were dangerous for flying. But she couldn't help it. She had to escape. She was trapped in her Quidditch safety bubble. She had to do more. She couldn't stand by and let Delores Umbridge achieve any position of leadership.

Ginny heard her name called faintly from below. She looked down and saw a figure standing under an umbrella in the middle of the pitch. The roar of rain and wind made it hard for her to hear but she knew who it was.

Gently descending her broom Ginny flew down to the emerald green umbrella. Gwenog was standing with a drying charm cast to prevent the water from blowing to the sides.

"And what," yelled Gwenog over the wind. "Do you think you are doing outside in this weather when I told you all to go inside and have lunch?"

All she could think of was the back of his hand. He use to hide it after their detentions but she saw the blood. She saw the faint scar on his hand during her fifth year. When he would forget his inhibitions and self-doubt. When he would let his passion take over exploring her body. She remembered tracing "I won't tell lies" one day by the lake and how his defenses broke down as the whole sordid story unraveled.

Ginny didn't give Gwenog a response. Instead she threw the broom down at Gwenog's feet and walked off the pitch away from the lunch canteen towards the flats. She was done for the day. She needed a stiff glass of firewhiskey.


End file.
